Improvement in copy-books



J. W. 0. GILMAN. O0pyB00k.

No. 212,597. Patented Feb; 25,1879.

INVENTEIR nrrnn 'rn'rns PATENT QFFIGE.

, I, JONATHAN W. O. GILMAN, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT lN COPY-BOOKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 212,597, dated February 25, 1879; application iilcd December 24, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JONATHAN W. O. GIL- MAN, of Malden, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Copy and Blank Books, of which the following is a specification:

This invention has for its object a blankbook which shall have, in addition to the exercise along the upper margin of each page, an additional exercise along the lower margin thereof, which can be used by reversing the book, the remainder of the page between the two exercises to be about equally divided for the purposes of practicing each copythat is, the page is provided with two exercises, one upon the upper and one upon the lower margin. The space between the two exercises is divided equally, or otherwise, for the practice of the exercises by the scholar, and when the exercise along the lower margin is to be used the book is reversed.

By this arrangement three important advantages are secured:

First, as the scholar, in practicing a given exercise, will not at any time write much below the center of the page, there is always provided a rest for his hand upon the lower portion of the page, and the inconvenience which attends writing the exercise on the lower lines of the page in the ordinary writing-book, which nocessitates that a portion of the hand shall rest on the book and a portion on the table, is avoided.

Second, more exercises are provided with a given number of pages, and less space given for the practice of said exercise, so that the scholar secures the advantages of the exercises contained in two numbers of books as now arranged at a cost about the same or a little greater than the cost of one number.

Third, the lower lines written upon in practicing the exercise being generally at or near the center of the page, instead of near the bottom of the page as in the ordinary copy-books, which have but one head-line, the scholar can more readily refer to the copy as he writes, as it is of very great importance to have the example as near the line on which the pupil is writing as possible, in order that he may have constantly before him the model or instructions which he is to follow. Of course, the more remote the practice-lines are from the copyline the less likely is the scholar to refer to it, and

the greater his inclination to take his own writing as the guide; and it will generally be observed, in comparing the writing of scholars with the copies, that the best and most careful work is done upon the upper half of the page, and that toward the bottom of the page the work is almost always of an inferior character, resulting from the two causes I have mentioned namely, the remoteness of the copy-line and the lack of any suitable support for the hand when writing on this portion of the page.

I do not confine myself to the use of any particular copy, instructions, or ruling in connection with this form of book. Neither do 1 limit myself to any special order in the arrangement of the copies, although each page will generally have two rulingsthat upon the upper half to correspond with the ruling around the copy at the upper margin, and that on the lower half to correspond with the ruling around the copy along the lower margin.

By this means I can combine the practiceexercises of two books in one with slight extra cost, and still give enough practice on the driest part of the instructions.

The drawing represents a perspective of a copy-book wide open, showing an upright copy along the upper margin of each page, and the upper half of the page box-ruled, and a reversed copy along the lower margin of each page.

I prefer to place the additional copy along the lower margin of each page in a reversed position, in lieu of placing it at the center of the page in an upright position, to correspond with the set copy along the top margin of the page, as has already been done, as by this arrangement I obtain not only the advantages hereinbefore mentioned, but also secure a savin g in the cost of lithographing the copies, as I am enabled to employ the lap process in lithographing, and thereby utilize the whole face of the stonefor copies, and secure enough impressions at one compression for two numbers of a book containing twenty-four exercises,

whereas if a copy is placed at the center of the page, the sheets could not be lapped upon the stone to advantage, for the space between the copy at the center of the page and the upper and lower edges thereof could not be utilized.

To produce by the lithograph ic process copies enough for one number of a book with the copy at the center of the page would require a much larger number of compressions, and, therefore, much more time, increasing materially the first cost of the book.

I desire to state that, for the purpose of providing a rest in writing, this principle of reversal can be applied to any blank-books, led gers, journals, cash books, or, in fact,'to any book where it is desirable to provide a suitable rest or support for the hand in writing. Taking, forinstance, a journal, each page would be divided at the center, and the end of each page would be at or near its center-that is, the upper half of the page is written upon until the center line is reached, and so on through the book. The book is then reversed, when that which constituted the lower half of each pagebecomes the upper, and is written through in reversed order, each page bearing two numbers-one number for the upper half of the page, and another number for the lower half; or, upon finishing the upper half of the page, the book may be reversed and the lower half written upon before the next page is used. Of course, in addition to the central line provided each page, the margin at the bottom of each page would be ruled to resemble the top.

By this arrangement it will readily be seen that a proper support is always provided for the hand in writing.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- A double-headed blank-book wherein each page is transversely divided, and each part thereof is provided with a heading counterpointed to the other heading on the same page, whereby the same page can be used for two sets of exercises or accounts, each of which is written with the tops of its letters most distant from and the bottoms of its letters nearest to the tops and bottoms, respectively, of the letters in the other subdivision, substantially as described. 

